opening master combo locks with a shoelace???

[bigred18165]

hi. a locksmith just came over to my house to change all the locks on my new house. i talked to him for a long time about lockpicking. in the conversation he said he used to open those master combo locks (the ones that are on lockers) with a shoelace. he said you have the lock mounted (on a pole or w/e) so its hanging freely then take a piece of shoelace and loop it through the clasp. you hold both ends of the shoelace in your hands so they hang over the dial part of the lock and the back side of the lock. you see-saw it back and forth with medium tension until the dials "float", he said, into the correct position. he demonstrated but failed to succeed. he said he has never done it on the new master combo.'s like mine, just on the older ones. has anyone heard of this method?...or is he just b.s.ing me lol. sorry if the explanation of the method did not make any sense at all...I tried my best. thanks

[CaptHook]

Me thinks he was having a little fun with you.
Chuck

[HeadHunterCEO]

Me thinks he was having a little fun with you.
Chuck

yep

[bigred18165]

i bet you are right...what a jerk lol. but he seemed so serious and not the joking type at all!...i wonder if there is a way.........................

[hzatorsk]

I did it... and it works... Once you get the string turning the dial, carefully pull it until the first number in the combination comes around. Repeat for the subsequent numbers. (grinning).

Seriously, even if it did open for him... I'd demand a repeat performance on a lock he hasn't seen.

But the story has been around... perhaps as amusement for green apprentice types. I heard this story with big rubber bands. Theory was the fast see-saw action slapped the wheel inside in various random patterns so they eventually came to rest in the correct position while there was moderate tension on the hasp. It idea was based upon randomness, sloppy locks and the fact you could blindly work the lock through many possibilities very very quickly. I guess you 'could' get lucky with it.

[HeadHunterCEO]

I did it... and it works... Once you get the string turning the dial, carefully pull it until the first number in the combination comes around. Repeat for the subsequent numbers. (grinning).

Seriously, even if it did open for him... I'd demand a repeat performance on a lock he hasn't seen.

But the story has been around... perhaps as amusement for green apprentice types. I heard this story with big rubber bands. Theory was the fast see-saw action slapped the wheel inside in various random patterns so they eventually came to rest in the correct position while there was moderate tension on the hasp. It idea was based upon randomness, sloppy locks and the fact you could blindly work the lock through many possibilities very very quickly. I guess you 'could' get lucky with it.

some kind of bootleg auto dialer
on the common master combo this teqnique would never float

[hzatorsk]

Well... the first part of my post was sarcasm, but the story / urban legend itself has several renditions floating around. I wasn't trying to prove it was possible...

But I am not really sure what you mean by the term 'bootleg autodialer'... I am quite proud of my auto dialer that I had built some 20 years ago. I just recently dug it out of the attic and started upgrading it to run off of a modern computer. If it is a bootleg device... I guess... I need to know what that means?!?

If an S&G selling locksmith will dig around in their inventory... I'd love them to read my Buy/Sell/Trade post where I am seeking a 6731 for the very purpose of testing the autodialers new fly logic.

[Pepin]

In highschool, we used to open the locks much the same way that the locksmith was telling you about... It only seemed to work on the older Master Combo locks, with a red or orange dial.... he wasn't bluffing...

[Cypherninja]

In highschool, we always just used a shoe. As long as it was a 12+ it worked pretty well.

[CaptHook]

In highschool, we used to open the locks much the same way that the locksmith was telling you about... It only seemed to work on the older Master Combo locks, with a red or orange dial.... he wasn't bluffing...

Urban legends...... arent they grand.
I know a girl that likes her dog, and loves peanut butter............
Chuck